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Northwest's Korean Community Draws Close After Deadly Bus Crash

Oregon State Police

The Northwest Korean community is grieving two more victims in that deadly bus crash in northeast Oregon. So far, seven of the nine victims’ names have been released in the accident that also injured dozens.

One of the latest two victims to be identified is Chun Ho Bahn, age 63. She was a U.S. Citizen from Bothell, Washington. Her husband is being treated at a hospital in Pendleton. The other victim is Ae Ja Kim, age 61, from Korea. Her husband is still being treated in Portland, Oregon.

Chong Dameron is the board chair of the with the Korean Women’s Association in Western Washington. She says she personally knows some of the families who have lost loved ones.

“Myself I feel so bad thinking of what the family has to go through. It’s just a devastation," she says. "Looking at that bus on the edge of the … I’m just shaking. How could that happen?”

Oregon State Police say the cause of the accident won’t be identified for a couple of months.

Anna King calls Richland, Washington home and loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network from a studio at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. She covers the Mid-Columbia region, from nuclear reactors to Mexican rodeos.